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Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority

Report on Activities September 2017 – August 2018 Introduction The year of 2017/2018 is a vibrant, momentous and challenging one for the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). The activities of the year are wide-ranging and fruitful. This report presents the HKEAA’s activities in two major areas in the financial year ending 31 August 2018, including (i) corporate governance and development, and (ii) examinations and assessments, in particular the development, administration and delivery of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE). A list of the examinations conducted by us is given in the Attachment. Part I Corporate Governance and Development (A) Corporate Information Updates (B) Mainland and Overseas Partnership (C) General Administration and Finance (D) Quality Assurance Part II Examinations and Assessments (A) HKDSE and Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (LPAT) (B) New Initiatives in Examination Administration and Assessment (C) Research and Development (D) Diversification of Activities (International and Professional Examinations) (IPEs)

Annex

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Part I Corporate Governance and Development (A) Corporate Information Updates

Stakeholders’ Engagement 1. In January 2018, an Annual Open Day and an HKDSE Core Subjects Information Day

offering four seminar sessions were organised and were attended by over 1,000 members of the public, including students and parents. A Public Examinations Information Seminar series aiming to raise parents’ understanding about the HKDSE and other examinations for secondary school leavers was scheduled for August and September and attracted about 700 participants.

2. To enhance communication and engagement with stakeholders, a Stakeholders’ Forum

for key stakeholder groups was held in early 2018, including school councils, education concern groups, youth groups, parent-teacher associations as well as concern groups for students with special educational needs (SEN).

Promoting the HKDSE

3. To promote recognition of the HKDSE and to widen opportunities for admission to

non-local universities for HKDSE candidates, we joined the StudyUK Education Expo organised by the British Council twice and also the information seminars organised for Japanese and South Korea universities during the year. By the end of August 2018, a total of 278 overseas higher education institutions had announced their acceptance of the HKDSE qualification for admission to their undergraduate programmes, in addition to 102 Mainland institutions and some 140 Taiwanese institutions which admit students on the basis of their HKDSE results.

Publications and Publicity

4. In the year, we published four issues of the HKEAA e-News and two issues of the

HKDSE Newsletter to provide updates on our latest development, particularly the HKDSE, to local and overseas stakeholders.

5. By the end of August 2018, the HKDSE Mobile Application had recorded nearly

192,000 cumulative downloads since its launch in 2012. The HKDSE blog, DSE Express, also recorded more than 110,000 visits in 2017/2018.

Media and Communication Activities

6. During the year, we organised a number of press conferences, media interviews and

events to announce the 2018 HKDSE results, major examination policies and other initiatives. A number of press releases and feature articles were published to promote various events and programmes, and over 200 press enquiries, 70% of which concerned the HKDSE, were handled.

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Awards

7. Two staff members received the ‘Ombudsman’s Awards 2017 for Officers of Public Organisations’ in recognition of their exemplary customer service. Since 2012, a total of nine staff members have received the same award.

8. At the organisation level, we received the ‘Triple Gold Award’ for the second time,

under the Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme, in recognition of our conscientious efforts in adopting web content accessibility designs for the corporate website. Committed to promoting life-long learning and keeping our workforce upskilled, we were recognised by the Employees Retraining Board as a ‘Manpower Developer’ under the category of ‘Government Department, Public Body and NGO’ in its ERB Manpower Developer Award Scheme 2018.

HKEAA Code on Access to Information

9. A total of eight requests for information under the HKEAA Code on Access to

Information in 2017/2018 were processed this year and all of them were duly followed up in accordance with the Code. Simultaneously, to enhance staff understanding of the Code and facilitate them to process requests for access to information from members of the public, the operation guideline on the Code was enhanced to improve clarity and a training session was organised for the staff concerned in light of the latest best practices.

(B) Mainland and Overseas Partnership

External Partnership/ Collaboration 10. During the year, we received visitors from the National Education Examinations

Authority, the Education Examinations Authority of Guangdong Province, Tianjin Municipal Educational Admission and Examinations Authority, and the Research Center for Psychological and Educational Testing of National Taiwan Normal University. Two Memorandums of Understanding were signed with the Shanghai Municipal Educational Examinations Authority of the Mainland and the College Entrance Examination Center of Taiwan, with a view to establishing a cross-regional collaboration platform and promoting best practice sharing in the realm of education assessment.

(C) General Administration and Finance

Human Resources Management 11. The 2017/2018 Pay and Benefits Level Review was completed with pay ranges

adjusted to narrow pay gaps with the market. New pay ranges1 took effect as from 1 January 2018, whilst ‘pay for performance’ continued as our reward philosophy.

1 Normally our pay ranges would be static until they are revised. To stay competitive as an employer, we normally review our pay ranges every three years by engaging an external consultant. Unlike the annual pay review which may bring along pay adjustments in tandem, revisions to the pay ranges are to update, where necessary, the ‘salary floors’ and ‘salary ceilings’ of various pay grades for a longer-term implementation.

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12. As a family-friendly employer, we embarked on a 6-month and 2-phased trial run of

‘5-day work week’ from February to July 2018 so that practical experience could be obtained to adjust operation details. Upon conclusion of the trial run, ‘5-day work week’ was rolled out officially in September 2018 among most of our offices without increasing staff cost or affecting the current service level.

13. As an examinations and assessment authority, we have always attached paramount

importance to employee conduct and from time to time reviewed our Employee Code of Conduct according to the prevailing focus on matters relating to legal compliance and employees’ inappropriate behaviours. The revised Employee Code of Conduct was implemented as from September 2018.

14. To ensure the sustainable development of the workforce, we have rigorously pursued

leadership development and succession planning. Riding on the completion of the earlier Leadership Development Programme comprising leadership assessment and development plan geared towards succession planning, we were formulating a talent management strategy in the year. Individualised development plans have been crafted for implementation in 2018/2019.

15. We have always attached great importance to employee communication and

engagement. In 2017/2018, a total of four sessions of All Staff Meeting were organised to share organisational updates and gauge staff feedback. To recognise staff through non-financial means, we also presented awards to some distinguished staff and the award winners of the Staff Suggestion Scheme. We would continue to dedicate efforts to employee engagement and strive to be an ‘employer of choice’.

Building/ Facilities Management

16. Most of our premises have aged severely. To ensure public safety and maintain our

premises in usable conditions, we carried out repair works in the Lai King Assessment Centre to resolve water seepage and other safety issues. However, the large-scale repair and maintenance plan for the San Po Kong Building has been shelved until our financial sustainability issue is resolved. Instead, we have worked out an enhanced maintenance strategy for the San Po Kong Building to reduce the scale of repairs substantially - only a ‘beyond-repair’ chiller, the obsolete elevator and the power system of the premises would be included in the repair and maintenance plan for implementation in 2018/2019 to meet operation requirements. To ensure the building’s usability, other maintenance plans would be phased in as necessary.

Development of an Integrated Corporate System

17. To meet our operation needs, a plan to develop our finance system has been on the

drawing board for a few years, which was again deferred in 2017/2018 in order to extend our financial sustainability. Upon the completion of a feasibility study carried out in 2017/2018, we have initially come to the conclusion that a local enterprise solution to support our future operations straddling finance, human resources/ examination personnel management, procurement, document management, etc. should be pursued to reduce capital cost considerably. As such, we would take forward the development of a long-awaited corporate system in 2018/2019.

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Business Process Re-engineering 18. To enhance our operation efficiency and productivity, we have from time to time

reviewed various administrative and financial procedures. In 2017/2018, we streamlined the logistics involving the ordering and delivery of publications with substantial reduction in operation cost, revamped various administrative and financial procedures to better keep track of spending and enhance efficiency without compromising our corporate governance, revamped the Project Management Committee and its relevant procedures to enhance internal accountability, as well as flexiblising the opening hours of various assessment centres during the HKDSE marking period to optimise utilisation.

19. On a separate front, we carried out a feasibility study of the wider use of cashless

payment means to enhance customer service and reduce costs associated with cash handling. Given the favourable findings of the study, we embarked on negotiations with various local banks to identify a suitable vendor to implement this initiative whilst enhancing our security measures on the backend systems to ensure the security of electronic transaction. A trial run will be launched in 2018/2019 for the 2019 HKDSE before full implementation. Credit cards of various brands, a wide range of contact-less payment channels and online payment through different brands of credit cards would be accepted.

Tackling Financial Difficulties

20. The HKEAA, in consultation with the Education Bureau (EDB), has been exploring

possible funding options to address the long-term financial needs of the Authority. We will continue with our complementary work in relation to the Government’s proposed non-recurrent funding of $360 million announced in the Chief Executive’s 2018 Policy Address.

Enhanced Information Technology (IT) Governance and Information Security

21. A combined compliance audit of ISO 27001 Information Security Management

System and ISO 20000 Information Technology Service Management was conducted in the year without identifying any non-compliance. Relevant ISO certificates were renewed subsequently.

22. To enhance our IT governance, we revamped the corporate monthly IT service report

to thoroughly and comprehensively cover operations and system statistics, including service uptime and incidents. The overall performance of various systems could be better monitored and resources would be allocated to priority areas based on such metrics and analytics.

23. To better gauge user feedback for the sake of service enhancement and formulating

user-centric IT strategies in alignment with the needs of corporate development, an internal user survey covering IT helpdesk service and application service was conducted for the first time in October 2017, followed by visits to users for an in-depth understanding of expectations vis-à-vis resource allocation and corporate priorities.

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24. To strengthen control over information security, a total of 484 sets of office personal computers have been upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 during the year. Six familiarisation workshops were also organised for staff to support the change process.

(D) Quality Assurance 25. We have implemented the ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) since 2005.

To cope with the transition of the ISO 9001 from the 2008 to the 2015 version, a number of process enhancements were adopted, including the planning and implementation of risk management policies for achieving an effective QMS. The first certification audit of the QMS of the Authority in accordance with this new international standard was conducted from late February to early March 2018 and the certificates were issued to the Authority in late May 2018.

Risk Management and Internal Audit

26. We have continually adopted a risk-based audit approach. All internal audit

assignments were undertaken with due professional care. Internal audits such as revenue collection and reconciliation; review of the HKDSE examination system; registration process of the HKDSE; administration of examination personnel for the conduct of IPEs; processing of HKDSE and LPAT examination materials, etc. were carried out during the year. No significant control deficiencies were noted. All audit recommendations, with the corresponding improvement plans and timeline for implementation, were executed smoothly.

Part II Examinations and Assessments (A) HKDSE and LPAT

2018 HKDSE 27. The June and September registrations for the 2018 HKDSE were successfully

completed in July and October 2017 respectively, recording a total of 59,000 candidates, of whom 7,364 were private candidates. The June registration covered Category C (Other Languages) subject examinations while the September registration covered Category A and Category B subject examinations. To familiarise schools with the enhanced registration functions of the HKDSE System, two briefing sessions attracting a total attendance of more than 250 school staff were held in September 2017.

28. As part of the New Academic Structure Medium-term Review, four senior secondary

subjects, namely Chinese Literature, Literature in English, Health Management & Social Care, and Technology & Living, will implement School-based Assessment (SBA) with effect from the 2019 HKDSE. Some schools had opted to join the optional trial of the SBA in the 2018 HKDSE and submitted SBA marks and students’ work samples in early 2018 for feedback from the Authority. On the whole, the submission of marks and samples by schools and SBA mark moderation were smoothly and duly completed as scheduled.

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29. The 2018 HKDSE was conducted from mid-February to May 2018 with the cooperation and support of schools, teachers and examination personnel. Additional measures were instituted in the examination centre allocation process to ensure the proper allocation of candidates to examination centres in the 2018 HKDSE. The final allocation was completed satisfactorily as scheduled.

30. The written examinations were scheduled between end-March and early May, while

the Chinese Language and English Language speaking examinations were held on weekday evenings from 13 to 22 March and from 2 to 11 May 2018 respectively. Compared with the previous year, the candidature went down by 4.3% (from 61,624 to 59,000). The majority of the candidates were Secondary 6 students from 486 schools, who had completed the three-year senior secondary curriculum. The number of day school candidates decreased by 1.1%, while the number of private candidates dropped to 7,364 (down by 23%).

31. Starting from 2017/2018, the updated version of the Onscreen Marking (OSM) system,

i.e. OSM2, has been fully implemented for the marking of all the written papers of Category A subjects. The marking of the four core subjects was smoothly completed in late May 2018 and that of the elective subjects in early June as planned.

32. Different processes, such as equating and SBA mark submission and moderation, were

also completed smoothly as scheduled. Standards maintenance was carried out to ensure that the examination results were comparable across years. Expert panel meetings for the grading of the core subjects and the elective subjects were held in June 2018. The results were released on 11 July 2018 as scheduled, followed by 15,155 rechecking and remarking (RR) applications involving a total of 31,811 subjects, which represented a decrease of 550 cases as compared with the 2017 figure. The whole process was completed smoothly and the RR results were released in early August 2018 as scheduled. The upgrade rate was comparable to that of last year.

33. The appeal review applications in respect of processing of examination irregularities,

the process of rechecking and remarking and the marking of scripts after access to scripts after Data Access Requests (DARs) recorded 9, 9 and 49 cases respectively. In accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, 9,526 HKDSE candidates filed DARs for examination-related personal data, including marked examination scripts and/ or speaking examination video clips, before the scripts were destroyed.

Special Examination Arrangements for SEN Candidates

34. In 2017/2018, around 3,200 applications were received, which represented an increase

of approximately 10% over 2016/2017. In the 2018 HKDSE, special examination arrangements (SEAs) were provided for around 2,670 SEN candidates. In written examinations, 131 home centres were set up to cater to their specific needs for ancillary equipment (including the provision of speech-to-text software) and/ or familiar environment at their own schools. In addition, 84 schools served as home-cum-district centres to accommodate their own and other candidates with similar SEAs in the same district, while 29 special centres were set up to serve other SEN candidates. The speaking examinations for SEN candidates were also smoothly conducted in May 2018.

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35. As a whole, about 6,200 special question papers were produced for SEN candidates, with marked increases in screen reader question papers and question papers with special font and space-and-line spacing, both of which require much effort to prepare. Measures were taken to handle the increasing number of special question papers required. Various types of special question papers were smoothly produced to support the administration of the examinations for SEN candidates.

Provision of Support to Teachers and Students

36. To enhance transparency and teachers’ understanding of the examination, briefing

sessions on the review of the 2017 examination were held for all 24 Category A subjects and Applied Learning (ApL) subjects from September to December 2017. Samples at different levels of performance for these subjects were uploaded to our website to enable teachers, students and other stakeholders to better understand the standard of the HKDSE. In addition, the 2017 HKDSE Question Papers have also been available for sale for the 24 Category A subjects since early November 2017 for the reference of teachers and students.

37. About 180 briefing sessions, training sessions, workshops and conferences were

conducted in 2017/2018 for different subjects. Examples of these included workshops on question-setting and marking in written examinations, teachers’ conferences and experience-sharing sessions on SBA, and training sessions on designing SBA tasks and developing assessment rubrics for specific subjects.

Assessment Literacy Training (ALT)

38. The ALT Programme continued to be offered in 2017/2018 for secondary school

teachers. The major assessment principles and practices adopted in the HKDSE are used as the context and the programme covers three major areas, namely, Quality Assurance in Public Assessment, Grading Principles and Mechanism, and Assessment for Learning. A total of 11 sessions were conducted in February and March 2018, with 145 teachers attending the programme. Feedback from participants was positive.

39. Besides the ALT for secondary school teachers, assessment training was conducted in

October 2017 for tutors of the Course Providers of ApL subjects. Over 20 Course Provider representatives attended the training.

40. To leverage the success in 2016, the Course on English Language Assessment, a

10-session training course, was conducted again for 20 secondary school teachers from October to December 2017, enabling them to acquire a deeper understanding of key areas of English Language testing.

41. We also conducted ALT workshops for other professional bodies such as the Hong

Kong Police College, the Hong Kong Construction Industry Council and the Vocational Training Council, training a total of 139 participants.

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Consultancy Study on the Quality Assurance (QA) Framework for the HKDSE 42. In September 2016, an external consultant was appointed to review and evaluate the

QA Framework which was revised in August 2016 and monitor its implementation in the 2017 examination cycle. The consultant delivered the final report in October 2017, summarising their comments on the quality assurance procedures of the HKDSE and providing recommendations and advice on the way forward.

43. The overall conclusion drawn by the consultant is that we have well-developed,

well-documented and rigorously applied quality control procedures for the HKDSE and our personnel involved have excellent knowledge of the procedures and shown a commitment to carrying them out in full at all stages of the examination cycle. The consultant also noted that a large amount of information has been made publicly available by us so that students, schools, parents and the general public can be kept fully informed.

HKDSE School Statistical Report

44. A school survey was conducted in June 2018 on 366 schools subscribing to the 2017

HKDSE School Statistical Reports with the purpose of finding out users’ views on the quantities and types of data provided, and how the data were used by schools. The survey feedback was positive. This HKDSE feedback service has been provided to schools for six years and judging from the results of the survey, the report has well served the purpose of facilitating schools to improve learning and teaching.

Payment of Examination Fees for the 2019 HKDSE School Candidates by the Government

45. The Legislative Council approved a financial commitment for paying examination fees

for eligible school candidates sitting for the 2019 HKDSE as a one-off measure. We worked out with the EDB the administrative and financial arrangements pertaining to the implementation of the measure. Necessary adjustments to the relevant procedures and IT system have also been made. So far, the operation has been smooth.

Refresh of the HKDSE System 46. To tackle the ‘end-of-service-life’ issue, the project to refresh the HKDSE system,

namely the ‘HKDSE2’ project, was formally kick-started in April 2018. Through internal re-deployment of resources and hiring of time-limited project staff, both hardware and software would be refreshed in different phases according to the annual examination schedule. The entire project would be completed by August 2021.

Technology Refresh of Optical Mark Recognition System (OMRS)

47. The OMRS was built to capture candidates’ multiple-choice responses in the HKDSE,

LPAT, Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) and IPEs. To address the issue of cessation of vendor support in December 2018, a project to refresh the OMRS was initiated in November 2017. The updated OMRS is now ready for use by various examinations in 2019.

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LPAT 48. The 2018 LPAT was successfully conducted from mid-February to March 2018. A

total of 1,482 candidates sat the English Language papers while 2,118 sat the Putonghua papers. The results were released on 25 May 2018 as scheduled. A total of 108 applications for RR were received. The RR results were released on 28 June 2018. The Assessment Reports, which provide the chief examiners’ observations on candidates’ performance, including their strengths and areas for improvement, were released in July 2018 through the websites of the HKEAA and the EDB for the reference of candidates, schools and teacher education institutions.

(B) New Initiatives in Examination Administration and Assessment Second Generation Public Examination Support System (PESS2) Project 49. The ageing problem of video cameras and recorders originally equipped for speaking

examinations and examination centre recording has to be managed properly in order to ensure smooth examination operation. We have thus adopted smartphones to replace the obsolete video recording devices by phases. Altogether 400 sets of smartphones were procured for conducting the HKDSE English Language speaking examination in 2018. Based on the fruitful experience in 2018, the use of smartphones would be extended to cover the HKDSE Chinese Language speaking examination in 2019.

(C) Research and Development

HKDSE Predicted Level Study 50. A record high of 165 schools took part in the HKDSE predicted level study in 2017.

With a total of 19,866 candidates in the sample, this study represented over one-third of the day school first-attempter candidature. A consistent pattern of more accurate predictions for the subjects of English Language and Mathematics (Compulsory Part) than Chinese Language and Liberal Studies was shown. A briefing session was held in mid-November 2017 to share key findings with representatives of participating schools.

Research and Development Plan for HKDSE

51. To fulfil our strategic direction, research and development plans were drawn up for

different subjects/ areas of interests for 2018 to 2020. Areas covered include the speaking examinations of the language subjects, assessment of set texts in Chinese Language Paper 1 (Reading), Independent Enquiry Study of LS, optional trial and first implementation of SBA in four subjects and the impact of reporting an additional level of distinction in ApL subjects (except ApL Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students)).

Research Initiatives for ‘Assessment for Learning’

52. To facilitate the practice of ‘Assessment for Learning’ at schools, a feasibility study of

several new initiatives, including the return of HKDSE answer scripts to schools, the development of an online system for diagnostic services to schools on the HKDSE

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results, assessment literacy training programmes for teachers and parents, educational research on HKDSE data and so on was being carried out. Discussions with principals and frontline teachers had been conducted to gauge the needs of schools, and academics in universities were also contacted to explore possibilities of collaboration.

Quality Assessment Management Accreditation Scheme (QAMAS) Certificate Presentation Ceremony

53. The annual QAMAS Certificate Presentation Ceremony was held in mid-November

2017. QAMAS certificates were presented to 15 accredited schools in recognition of their commitment to quality examination and assessment management. The event also featured sharing sessions where representatives of member schools discussed their experience in adopting diversified assessment strategies and using the Assessment Quality-assurance Platform (AQP) for post-examination data analysis. Over 200 principals and teachers attended this event. A total of 91 primary and secondary schools were holding an effective QAMAS certificate by the end of 2017/2018.

AQP 54. Our proprietary AQP has been subscribed by more than 100 primary and secondary

schools. In response to schools’ feedback, the system was being upgraded with a view to incorporating OSM functions in the AQP to facilitate data entry and processing work by teachers. We will further promote the upgraded AQP to schools so as to enhance assessment literacy and effective use of assessment data among teachers to improve learning and teaching.

Research Forum

55. In 2017/2018, we planned together with the EDB the co-organisation of a Research

Forum themed on ‘Using Assessment Data for Better Learning and Teaching’, which was scheduled for 31 October 2018 and targeting participants of the education sector, including university scholars and research students, principals and teachers of primary and secondary schools, and representatives of educational bodies and professional organisations.

TSA

56. The results of the Primary 3 (P3), Primary 6 (P6) and Secondary 3 (S3) TSA 2017

were released in November 2017. As in previous years, seminars on students’ overall performance were held in November 2017 for each subject at each level by the Authority after the release of TSA results. Nine seminars were organised for a total of 1,786 teachers of Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics. In addition to deliberating the overall performance of students, analysis of exemplars was also used to illustrate students’ performance in each subject by our subject managers and senior officers. The seminars aimed to enhance teachers’ understanding of students’ performance through optimal use of assessment data. The seminars also introduced the features of each type of reports so that teachers could analyse related information in a more focused manner.

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57. For the TSA 2018, P6 was implemented in an opt-in mode, and S3 was conducted in full implementation mode. The EDB accepted the recommendations of the Coordinating Committee on Basic Competency Assessment and Assessment Literacy on the P3 TSA for 2018 and beyond: the P3 TSA will be conducted every year on a sampling basis, with about 10% of the students sampled from each of the public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools. In addition, to understand the overall learning performance of non-Chinese speaking students and SEN students and to provide appropriate support, a certain number of students from these two student groups have to be separately sampled to meet the statistical requirements. Students’ performance will only be counted as territory-wide data. Since only a small number of students in each school will participate in the assessment, school reports will not be provided. However, schools that would like all their P3 students to participate in the TSA and obtain detailed school reports for learning and teaching purposes could approach the HKEAA directly.

58. The oral assessment (with P3 Chinese Audio-visual assessment) and written

assessment at P3 and S3 were conducted smoothly in April/May and June 2018 respectively. In order to collect views from schools on the administrative arrangements for the 2018 TSA, a total of 23 Focus Group Meetings for principals and teachers were held and around 740 representatives from different schools had given valuable comments on the arrangements.

(D) Diversification of Activities (IPEs)

Candidature 59. The candidature of IPEs increased by 8.3% in 2017/2018 and reached a record high of

over 299,000. 60. The range of IPEs conducted for more than 100 examination bodies in 2017/2018

could be broadly classified into six categories as indicated in the table below. Amongst them, music/ dance/ art examinations continued to be the most popular ones though their entries had been adversely affected by the decline of the student population in Hong Kong. Increases in entries were recorded for all other examination categories with the strongest growth from recruitment examinations.

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New Examinations 65. The following international and professional examinations are new items for the year:

Examination Examination Body

Country/ Region

1 Certified Welding Inspector

American Welding Society (AWS)

USA

2 Certified Associate Welding Inspector

3 Senior Certified Welding Inspector

4 Certified Welding Educator

5 Certified Welding Supervisor

6 Certified Welding Sales Representative

7 D1.1 Structural Steel

8 D1.2 Structural Aluminium

9 D1.5 Bridge Welding

10 D15.1 Railroad

11 D17.1 Aerospace

12 API 1104 Pipeline

13 ASME Pressure Vessel Section IX Piping B31.1 and B31.3

14 ASME Pressure Vessel Section VIII, Div. 1 and Section IX

15 Structural Bolting Inspection

16 BPS Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist (BCACP)

Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS)

USA

17 BPS Board Certified Cardiology Pharmacist (BCCP)

18 BPS Board Certified Critical Care Pharmacist (BCCCP)

19 BPS Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP)

20 BPS Board Certified Infectious Diseases Pharmacist (BCIDP)

21 BPS Board Certified Nuclear Pharmacist (BCNP)

22 BPS Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist (BCNSP)

23 BPS Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP)

24 BPS Board Certified Pediatric Pharmacy Specialist (BCPPS)

25 BPS Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS)

26 BPS Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP)

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Examination Examination Body

Country/ Region

27 Certification in Infection Control The Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC)

USA

28 Authorized Certification Engineer for Android Ap Basic Certification and Authorization

Committee (CAC) Japan

29 IoT Certification Level 1 Professional Coordinator

30 Erasmus University Rotterdam entrance test Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands

31 Assistant Controller of Posts I Recruitment Examination

Hongkong Post, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

Hong Kong

32 Judicial Clerk Recruitment Examination The Judiciary, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

Hong Kong

33 Queensland Academies entrance test Queensland Academies Australia

34 Ruby Association Certified Ruby Programmer Silver version 2.1

The Ruby Association Japan 35 Ruby Association Certified Ruby

Programmer Gold version 2.1

36 XML Master Basic V2

XML Master Japan 37 XML Master Professional Application

Developer

38 XML Master Professional Database Administrator

Secretary General Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority December 2018

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HONG KONG EXAMINATIONS AND ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY

Programme of Activities

1 September 2017 – 31 August 2018

1. The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) was conducted as

scheduled during the period under review. The candidatures are shown below:

Candidate Category No. Entered No. Sat

School Candidates 51,636 51,375

Day School Candidates 50,642 50,447

Day School First Attempters 50,402 50,212

Private Candidates 7,364 6,274

All Candidates 59,000 57,649

2. Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (LPAT)

Number of Candidates Sat

English Language 1,482

Putonghua 2,118

3. Under approval obtained in accordance with Section 7(2)(c) of the Hong Kong Examinations

and Assessment Authority Ordinance, the Authority conducted examinations on behalf of the following examining bodies:

Name of Examining Body

1. ABRSM

2. ACT, Inc.

3. American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)

4. American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters/Insurance Institute of America

5. American Society for Quality (ASQ)

6. Anglican Church Grammar School

7. ASIS International

8. Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

9. Australian Council for Educational Research

10. Australian Teachers of Dancing International Pty. Ltd.

11. BEAM Society Limited

12. Beijing Dance Academy

13. Cambridge Assessment International Education

Attachment

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14. Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment

15. Carleton University

16. Central Conservatory of Music

17. CFA Institute

18. Charles Sturt University

19. Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx)

20. Chartered Institute of Marketing

21. Cheung Kong School of Art and Design, Shantou University

22. China Art Science Technology Research Institute

23. Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong

24. Deakin University

25. Edith Cowan University (ECU)

26. Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

27. Educational Records Bureau

28. Educational Testing Service

29. Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR (Electricity Legislation Division)

30. Erasmus University Rotterdam

31. Estate Agents Authority

32. Fire Services Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

33. Global Association of Risk Professionals

34. Governance Institute of Australia

35. Government Flying Service, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

36. Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts

37. Home Affairs Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

38. Hong Kong Ballroom Dancing Council

39. Hong Kong Dance Federation

40. Hong Kong Institute of Accredited Accounting Technicians Limited

41. Hong Kong Institute of Architects

42. Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants

43. Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries

44. Hongkong Post, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

45. HR Certification Institute (HRCI)

46. ICSA: The Governance Institute

47. Institute of Applied Linguistics, Ministry of Education

48. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

49. Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong

50. Institute of Linguists Educational Trust

51. Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)

3

52. International Facility Management Association (IFMA)

53. International Institute of Business Analysis

54. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

55. Lands Department, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

56. Law School Admission Council

57. Massey University

58. Ministry of Justice, PRC

59. Monash University

60. Moody’s Investors Service

61. Murdoch University

62. National Educational Examinations Authority, PRC

63. Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

64. Office of the Government Economist, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

65. Pearson Edexcel

66. Pearson Language Tests

67. Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)

68. Project Management Institute (PMI)

69. Queensland Academics

70. Royal Academy of Dance

71. Self-Study Examination Office, The Education Examinations Authority of Guangdong Province

72. Smart Education Company Limited

73. Society of Actuaries

74. SWIFT

75. The American Petroleum Institute (API)

76. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

77. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)

78. The Association of International Accountants

79. The Casualty Actuarial Society

80. The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI)

81. The Chartered Insurance Institute

82. The Chinese Folk Dance Grade Test Center, China Education Federation of the Arts

83. The College Board

84. The Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing (CSTD)

85. The Enrollment Management Association

86. The European Personnel Selection Office

87. The Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI)

88. The Institute of Management Accountants

89. The Judiciary, the Government of the Hong Kong SAR

90. The Market Technicians Association (MTA)

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

96.

97.

98.

99.

100

101

102

103

4. TheExabelo

Candidature

. The Med

. The Natio

. The Open

. The Secu

. The Taxa

. Universit

. Universit

. Universit

. Universit

0. Universit

1. Universit

2. Universit

3. York Uni

e total candaminations Dow:

2000

4000

6000

80000

100000

120000

Candidature

dical Counci

onal Counc

n University

urities Analy

ation Institu

ty of British

ty of Guelph

ty of Londo

ty of South

ty of Southe

ty of Toront

ty of Warwi

iversity

didature of Division w

0

00

00

0

0

0

Music/Dance/

Art Exam

il of Canada

il of Archite

y

ysts Associa

ute of Hong

h Columbia

h

on Internatio

Australia

ern Queensl

to

ick

examinationas over 299

ms

Professional/VocationalExams

4

a (MCC)

ectural Reg

ation of Jap

Kong

onal Program

land

ns administ9,000 in 20

/Admission/Matriculation

Exams

Cate

gistration Bo

pan (SAAJ)

mmes

tered by th17/2018, th

RecruitmentExams

egory

oards

e Internatiohe distributi

LanguageProficiencyExams

onal and Prion of whic

Degree Exams

rofessional ch is given

s